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11 Little Known Facts About The F-117 Nighthawk | F-117 Is Still Flying
Serbian knocked one F-117 Nighthawk down, and shot two more that landed in Croatia and Macedonia...
hey done it with 1965 technology
They shot down one single 1970s tech, 1st generation stealth bomber... a single F-117 shot down after a 20-year operational history with thousands of missions flown penetrating deep into enemy air defenses. The F-117 was hugely successful
When it deployed its weapons pod, it lit up like a Christmas tree. A huge failure, now sitting in the desert.
Lets talk about its repeated strikes on Baghdad, one of the most heavily defended air spaces of the world at that time Iraq, just coming out of a war with Iran, built up with some fairly layered and complex systems and yet the F-117 was able to fly in and drop bombs without losses. When the air force tried to do that with F-16's, after days of weakening the air defense network, they got shot down and had to drop ordnance and run. So stealth obviously has its usefulness. I think most people who comment on these things don't understand the realities of combat. Yes when it open its doors it does light up like a Christmas tree, but that means the operator has to react immediately. He has maybe 1-2 seconds, to identify, lock and fire, and hope that he maintains a strong enough signal. Stealth doesn't make you invisible, it just blends you in with the background noise, so it is possible to lock it up.The reason the Serbians shot it down were because they were waiting for it. They were waiting for that 1-2 second opportunity and had placed themselves within very close range of its known flight zone so they would most certainly maintain a lock from that range. They tactically beat the technological advantage. It didn't change anything about their war but it should be commended for as an example excellent thinking and adaptability.
'he USAF flew the F-117 night after night on the same route. Very stupid! Because of this, a Serb battery commander figured out exactly where to place his radars and SAMs. The P-18 low frequency radar detected the F-117 at 50 kms and tracked it at 25 kms. Very Poor! It should have detected a fighter at 160 kms and tracked it at 80 kms. The X-band fire control radar didn't get a lock til 10 kms. Very very poor! It was just horrible tactics by the USAF that got the F-117 shot down.
And the F-117 flew 850 sorties over Serbia. Some are claiming two other F-117s were hit, but not shot down. Still very poor hit rate for 850 sorties,.
